Monday, January 12, 1998Last modified at 1:16 a.m. on Monday, January 12, 1998

No hoopla for OprahNo hoopla for Oprah

AMARILLO (AP) - The Amarillo Chamber of Commerce won't be rolling out the red carpet when Oprah Winfrey brings her television show to the Texas Panhandle city this month.

Winfrey is moving her show from Chicago for a month while she defends herself against a defamation lawsuit brought by cattle ranchers. She may testify in the trial, which starts Jan. 20.

Amarillo Chamber President Gary Molberg sent a memo to staff last week indicating which side of the case he's on.

"We are not going to have any red carpet rollouts, key to the city, flowers ... sent to her or her production company and no chamber employees are to be at her show if she has them in Amarillo," the memo read.

The chamber will provide Ms. Winfrey with any information she requests, Molberg wrote Friday, "but the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce fully supports the cattle feeder industry because they are a vital part of Amarillo."

The chamber board's chairman, David Wilks, said the group did not intend to pick a side in the case by issuing the memo.